Thyrotropin-releasing hormone improves neurologic recovery after spinal trauma in cats.
Naloxone treatment improves neurologic outcome after experimentally induced spinal trauma, but this opiate-receptor antagonist may increase post-traumatic pain. In contrast, thyrotropin-releasing hormone appears to act in vivo as a partial physiologic opiate antagonist that spares analgesic systems; this activity prompted us to evaluate its effect in spinal injury. Cervical-spine trauma was produced in anesthetized cats by the Allen method. Six animals each received thyrotropin-releasing hormone, saline, or dexamethasone as an intravenous infusion over four hours, beginning one hour after injury. Neurologic recovery was significantly better after treatment with thyrotropin-releasing hormone than after saline or dexamethasone (P less than 0.01): at six weeks, the average animal given thyrotropin-releasing hormone was normal, whereas average control animals had marked spasticity. The beneficial effect of thyrotropin-releasing hormone in experimental spinal injury and its lack of effect on nociception indicate that it may have unique therapeutic potential in spinal trauma in human beings.
D000818:Animals; D001259:Ataxia / Q000517:prevention & control; D002415:Cats; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects*; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009128:Muscle Spasticity / Q000517:prevention & control; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013124:Spinal Injuries / Q000150:complications; D013973:Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D012965:Sodium Chloride; D013973:Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone; D003907:Dexamethasone